Of course. It is very popular. Especially the last two years. People like crazy. Everybody began to assemble 29ers. But I think that for races with my height the 29er is not very suitable. So I will assemble a 26er hardtail.

It is wonderful to see that you have such a thriving mountain bike scene around Moscow. Do you continue to ride and race in the winter, or are the conditions too difficult?

By the way, I have the same model Cannondale, in Silver. I have changed the wheels to Crossmax SLR, and replaced the SRAM/Avid gear with Shimano XT dual-control brakes and drivetrain. I have a son similar age to yours. I am having some challenges getting him to train for the 24hr teams race we are doing in 3 weeks ... girlfriends

trailgumby wrote:I have a Russian friend who is a keen mountain biker.

It is wonderful to see that you have such a thriving mountain bike scene around Moscow. Do you continue to ride and race in the winter, or are the conditions too difficult?

By the way, I have the same model Cannondale, in Silver. I have changed the wheels to Crossmax SLR, and replaced the SRAM/Avid gear with Shimano XT dual-control brakes and drivetrain. I have a son similar age to yours. I am having some challenges getting him to train for the 24hr teams race we are doing in 3 weeks ... girlfriends

About winter:

Of course, in winter, conditions for the bike some more difficult. Even at prepared track speeds is slower and you have to steer more precise, because of snow.But it is all the same interesting.

I also changed some of the components on my Rize:Brakes and triggers

front derailleur (old Shimano XT)

And rotors

With age, the son, too, tries to wriggle out of sports.It appears other interests too - girls

One of my good mates has one of them. Very nice bike. I'm going to try to persuade him to let me swap the pedals and take it for a test ride - he has flats on his and I can't get with them with my normal riding shoes.

Just finished a shock seal replacement this evening after it felt weird last night - really soft for the first 10mm of travel and then ramping up suddenly. Thought maybe the negative air chamber seal was gone. Anyway, all good now after a trip to City Bike Depot for the seal kit.

Put the Crossmax wheels back on after fitting some new rubber for the Mont. Took it for a spin - man the bike feels good, accelerates so fast And looks a lot more weapon-like

trailgumby, you need to slide down the rubber bumper on a fork.otherwise you can damage the frame by the fork's leg.The rubber bumper have to touch the down tube when front wheel fully turned to the left.

Thought I would post this bike again.... Its been through a few evolutions as Ive tinkered to find out what works for me and what doesnt. Helped me a lot with my next purchase..... pics to be uploaded Wednesday!Recon Gold RL forks, Deore M596 Brakeset, Ergon GA1 grips are the latest additions and theyre all great! The brakes especially compared to Shimano M445'sWeighs in at 12.3kgs including pedals, cage & Garmin sensor, which is not too bad with this frame i reckon!

Hey Trailgumby, what are you using for a chain stay wrap on your cannondale? I've been using lizard skins neoprene thing that has velcro holding it together but it moves around too much. Is that an inner tube taped onto the stay or an actual product?

So we get the leaders we deserve and we elect, we get the companies and the products that we ask for, right? And we have to ask for different things. – Paul Gildingbut really, that's rubbish. We get none of it because the choices are illusory.

Inner tube slit down one side and overlapped 50% each wrap. Secured at each end by a cable tie. You need to trial fit first and then work out how you're going to cut the ends so that the first bit and the end both go on square on the chainstay but allow you to wrap it at the required angle.

Funny story: After my first race back in 2008 I made the mistake of leaving my number plate on the handlebars when I took the ferry to work. Parked it in the rack, chose a seat and enjoyed the pretty harbour coastline sliding by.

Came back to my bike just as we were passing Taronga Zoo to find about six people drooling all over my kermit green bike checking out all the finer details, and the thing they were most taken with, it seems, was ... <drum roll> ... the inner-tube chainstay chainslap protector! Go figure.

It's starting to look a bit tired up near the cranks, might be time to dig another one out of the retired parts bin.

Occasionally I see discards by the side of the road and pick them up 'cos I don't actually use tubes in any of my mtbs and haven't for 3-4 years. I think that one was a BMX tube that some kid just chucked on the footpath because they couldn't be bothered sticking it in their pocket for a kilometre down the hill to the Allambie Heights shops. So I re-cycled it (boom-tish!)

Hmmm - I will try the inner tube I think, the lizard skin is looking quite ratty (and my bike hasn't got anywhere convenient to anchor the wrapper like that one Juppy - nice job though!)

So we get the leaders we deserve and we elect, we get the companies and the products that we ask for, right? And we have to ask for different things. – Paul Gildingbut really, that's rubbish. We get none of it because the choices are illusory.

trailgumby wrote:Inner tube slit down one side and overlapped 50% each wrap.

that's how I've wrapped my stay protectors. The tube I used also has a thin blue line and has created a nice pattern along the wrap. Have the old-tube style protectors on all but the singlespeed (which doesn't have any chain slap issues).

New toy.... NOS 2011 Giant Anthem X2 Size is XL, fits me very comfortably and is set up similar to my hardtail.Im doing the 12hr event at the Kona Dirty Weekend in Adelaide here in May, cant wait to see how she goes.Just waiting on a chainstay protector + bottle cage! ( oh yeh and wheel decals and dork disc..... gotta go!!)

You could consider moving your controls further inboard so you can get the one-finger braking thing happening. I reckon you have enough room before the centre taper to move them in a good 50mm or more if you so choose.

That means you still get plenty of braking power, but less arm pump on the rough stuff because you've got 3 fingers and thumb around the grip instead of only 2.

For some reason they always seem to come with the controls spaced out much too wide ex-factory.

Who is online

About the Australian Cycling Forums

The largest cycling discussion forum in Australia for all things bike; from new riders to seasoned bike nuts, the Australian Cycling Forums are a welcoming community where you can ask questions and talk about the type of bikes and cycling topics you like.